Three Coweta homes join list of Christmas lights

by Wes Mayer

The Lamberts on 40 Camellia Circle have
created a Christmas lights show synchronized to
music and are raising food for the Coweta County
Community Food Bank.

If you are hoping to spend an evening visiting Christmas decorations around Newnan and Coweta County, there are a few more locations to add to your list.

One home you shouldn’t miss is the Lamberts’ home on 40 Camellia Circle. The Lamberts have put together a Christmas lights show synchronized to music.

The Lamberts have been putting on their Christmas show for three years, said Eric Lambert, and they have set up decorations for the last five years. The show includes thousands of LED lights controlled by 80 channels and synchronized to a 15-minute musical show, Lambert said, and they have a small FM transmitter so visitors can tune in to 99.9 FM in order to listen to the show inside their vehicles.

Lambert said the show includes eight Christmas songs mixed with some voiceovers he made with his kids. During the show, lights flash and dance across the front of his home, decorations, bushes and trees change colors, and the Lamberts even set up a small helicopter on their roof.

The Lamberts have also placed a large container painted like a soup can by the street to raise food items for the Coweta Community Food Pantry — so far, they have raised more than 1,000 pounds of food, Lambert said. One of the Lambert’s neighbors across the street also has a similar container by the street to raise food.

Lambert said the lights show runs from around 6 to 9 p.m. during the week, and until 11 p.m. on the weekends. He simply asks visitors not to park in his or his neighbor’s yard while watching the show.

Another show to check out is the Hurleys’ on 140 Hamilton Drive. The Hurleys have about 7,000 lights strung along their home’s front and roof, and some of the strands are connected to a Christmas light display box, said Dean Hurley, who sets up the decorations with his wife, Diane. Hurley said the box has four receivers to plug lights into, and the box transforms the Hurleys’ display into a Christmas show.

Hurley said the box comes with 40 Christmas tunes, and he set up two amplifiers so the music can be heard outside. For visitors who want to stay inside their cars, though, the Hurleys have also set up an FM transmitter, 90.3 FM, so people can tune in on the radio.

The Hurleys started setting up Christmas decorations 24 years ago, when they got married, and they continue to set up the lights for their kids, Diane Hurley said. She said their decorations keep accumulating and getting larger every year.

This year, the Hurleys began setting up their decorations toward the beginning of November, Hurley said, and they had everything ready by Thanksgiving. Dean Hurley said the lights will be up from about 5:30 to midnight each night until the first or second week of January.

To see some cool homemade Christmas decorations, drive to the Caswells’ home on 649 Dixon Road. Justin Caswell, a second-year engineering student at Jacksonville State University, built two large decorations for his family’s display — a 10-foot-tall Ferris wheel and an 8-foot-wide carousel.

Caswell built both the Ferris wheel and carousel in October 2012, and they were up and spinning by Thanksgiving. This year, Caswell returned from school and was able to set up the finishing touches on his creations. They are still turning this year, and some gingerbread men are now happily riding along.

The Caswells have many other decorations in their yard, including Christmas light arches down the driveway, blow-up decorations, cutout gingerbread men, Christmas critters and Santa, lights strung through trees, and Christmas light animals.

Caswell said the decorations are on from about 5:30 to 10 or 11 p.m. each night, and they will keep them up until two or three days after Christmas.

* * * Here are some other stops:

• The Craigs, 2405 Gordon Road, in south Coweta.

• The Bentons, 155 Hannah Road.

• The Coopers, 620 Holbrook Road, Newnan.

• The Pickfords, 1605 Old Highway 85, Senoia.

• The Stewart home along with several neighbors in Acropolis Court, located in the back of the neighborhood off Macedonia Road and Pegasus Trace.

• The Yarbroughs, 205 Brittain Way, in Timberidge off U.S. 29 in north Coweta.

• Downtown Newnan where the city has lighted trees and buildings.

• Also SummerGrove neighborhood in Newnan will have its annual luminarias display Christmas Eve, Dec. 24. Nancy Sanker started the project with friends to honor her sister, Linda McGrenaghan, who died after fighting leukemia 19 years. All proceeds from the luminarias go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This year, Lights for Linda is dedicating its luminarias to Madeline McTier, a 17-year-old East Coweta High School student who passed away in September from complications of a brain tumor.